Washington, Dec. 6 – In a unanimous voice vote, the full Senate Agriculture Committee supported issuing a subpoena for former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine, to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing on the collapse of MF Global. The House Committee on Agriculture held a similar vote last week and Corzine is now scheduled to testify before that committte on Thursday, Dec. 8.
The former U.S. senator and New Jersey governor is at the heart of the controversy over an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer funds. The financial firm’s collapse is the 8th largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Pat Roberts, the committee’s Ranking Member, issued the following statement following the vote:
“It’s important that citizens come forward and testify when asked by our committee, especially in a matter this serious. The committee’s bipartisan actions today demonstrate our commitment to understanding what happened to cause the extraordinary collapse of MF Global. We will continue to work to see that the futures market remains a valuable tool for investors, farmers, ranchers and small businesses and to see that the missing funds are returned to their rightful owners."
Regulators are still searching for up to $1.2 billion in missing client funds from the futures side of the MF Global business. The shortfall came to light shortly before the company filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31. The CFTC is leading the regulatory probe into the missing money. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigating while the trustee in charge of unwinding MF Global is working to recover funds and return more money to customers.
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